Pubdate: Fri, 07 May 2010
Source: Denver Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2010 Denver Daily News
Contact:  http://www.thedenverdailynews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4274
Author: Gene Davis
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

MOTHERS FOR MARIJUANA

Activist Group Looks to Change Image of Marijuana Supporters

On the eve of Mother's Day weekend, a group of women held a press 
conference at the State Capitol in hopes of changing the face of the 
pro-marijuana movement.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in the Senate gave final approval to a bill that 
would regulate Colorado's booming medical marijuana industry.

The diverse group of women gathered at the capitol yesterday to 
formally launch the Women's Marijuana Movement (WMM). With the 
tagline, "Safer for us. Safer for all," the national group is working 
towards the legalization of marijuana for adults. As part of the 
group's launch, WMM is offering e-cards that people can send to their 
mother to "let them know that they believe marijuana is a relatively 
safe and entirely acceptable alternative to alcohol."

"(We need to) do away with the hippies and the Cheech and Chong 
stoner image and start putting these new faces to it," said 
recreational marijuana user Crystal Guess. "The only way we can do it 
is to just come out of the closet and stop being so afraid to talk about it."

Jessica Corry, a conservative lawyer who helped found the group, 
brought her two young daughters to yesterday's press conference. She 
said WMM members are dedicated to "acknowledging that (marijuana) 
prohibition has failed."

"We're here to say enough is enough, the time is now to end 
prohibition and to take back our responsibilities as parents, as 
women, from gun-toting bureaucrats," she said.

Corry and many of the other speakers yesterday pointed out the ways 
in which they believe marijuana is safer than alcohol. According to 
the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, more than 
97,000 students have been victims of alcohol-related sex assault and 
date rape each year. University of Denver student Sarah Groten said 
that her personal experiences in college have led her to believe that 
marijuana doesn't cause people to become aggressive like alcohol does.

"I'm much more comfortable and safer around guys who are stoned 
instead of drunk," she said.

However, Adams County District Attorney Don Quick said that research 
conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) proves that 
marijuana legalization could harm children. Research shows that a 
child's marijuana use depends on the availability of the drug, the 
perceived risks or consequences of using the drug, and social norms 
regarding the drug, he said. The AAP argues that legalizing marijuana 
would negatively impact all three of those factors and lead to an 
increase in marijuana use by kids.

But Corry argued that "the failed prohibition on marijuana" has 
allowed plenty of kids to get their hands on marijuana and that it 
should be a parent's job to keep the drug from their children.

"Too many parents have given away responsibility away to our 
government," she said. "We need to take responsibility as parents to 
fight back for our children's future."

The WMM press conference was largely organized by Mason Tvert of 
Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), a group dedicated 
to pointing out the ways they believe marijuana is safer than 
alcohol. Tvert is unsure whether he will have the funding to get an 
initiative legalizing marijuana in Colorado onto the 2010 ballot.

Still, Tvert believes more Coloradans are in favor of legalizing 
marijuana than in 2006, when a similar ballot initiative failed on a 
61-38 percent vote. He said polling has shown support for 
legalization growing every year.

But Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, thinks that not only would 
Colorado voters reject such an initiative, they would also likely 
approve a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.

"The expansive, dramatic increase of dispensaries on every street 
corner and the availability for people, that's not in the intent of 
Amendment 20," he said. "People I'm hearing from don't like it."

HB 1284

With only minutes to go until the Senate was to vote on a 
comprehensive medical marijuana regulatory bill, Renfroe wasn't sure 
if he would support the measure.

He supported giving local municipalities the option of banning 
dispensaries from operating within city limits, but believed the bill 
would legitimize the retail dispensary model, which he opposes. He 
ended up voting against the bill.

Bill sponsor Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said while the bill wasn't 
perfect, it wouldn't produce the dire consequences that Renfroe worried about.

"What we have really truly done in a bipartisan way is to go into 
uncharted territory, do what the voters asked us to doEand basically 
bring this out of the shadows and let the truly chronically ill get 
relief," he said.

The bill passed on a 26-9 vote.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom